The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, an amalgam of Civil Society Organizations, on Thursday, threw its weight behind the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to go ahead with the elections as planned despite calls for postponement.
The groups also declared that neither the National Assembly nor the courts has the powers to order the commission to either postpone the elections or use the temporary voter cards for the elections, adding that they were going to deploy election monitors in all the states of the federation, including states in the North East currently witnessing the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents.
The groups, in a media briefing in Abuja stated that INEC was vested with the powers under the constitution to fix dates for elections in the country.
Addressing the media in Abuja on the preparations for the elections, the Executive Speaking on behalf of the over 60 groups, Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, said, “the powers to set the date for any election in the country and the mode for the elections rest with INEC constitutionally; not even the courts or the National Assembly has the powers to demand that INEC changes the date or accepts the temporary voter cards.
“In the countdown to the February 2015 general election, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has been observing the electoral process and receiving reports from across the country, and would like to highlight the following concerns:
“The Situation Room is worried about the challenges of production and distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by the Independent National Electoral Commission and is concerned that INEC has allowed logistical problems to persist and becloud its preparations for the elections.
“Situation Room calls on INEC to immediately take steps to address several logistical and other concerns about the elections, including ensuring that the delay in the distribution of the PVCs is resolved urgently by operating longer hours.
“In addition, Situation Room calls on INEC to more effectively communicate and update Nigerians on a daily and regular basis, its preparations and plans for the elections, including the extent of progress on training and deployment of permanent and ad hoc staff for election duty and other logistics arrangements.
“Situation Room calls on the federal and state governments to declare at least one work-free day towards the end of a week to enable Nigerians concentrate on collecting their PVCs.”
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